Czech Republic (2008) | Ecuador (2001) | |
Administrative divisions | 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and 1 capital city* (hlavni mesto); Jihocesky Kraj, Jihomoravsky Kraj, Karlovarsky Kraj, Kralovehradecky Kraj, Liberecky Kraj, Moravskoslezsky Kraj, Olomoucky Kraj, Pardubicky Kraj, Plzensky Kraj, Praha (Prague)*, Stredocesky Kraj, Ustecky Kraj, Vysocina, Zlinsky Kraj | 22 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia); Azuay, Bolivar, Canar, Carchi, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Galapagos, Guayas, Imbabura, Loja, Los Rios, Manabi, Morona-Santiago, Napo, Orellana, Pastaza, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Tungurahua, Zamora-Chinchipe |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 14.1% (male 738,391/female 698,999)
15-64 years: 71.2% (male 3,657,877/female 3,627,493) 65 years and over: 14.7% (male 588,531/female 917,453) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years:
35.8% (male 2,398,801; female 2,320,537) 15-64 years: 59.81% (male 3,900,193; female 3,984,797) 65 years and over: 4.39% (male 269,372; female 310,278) (2001 est.) |
Agriculture - products | wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, hops, fruit; pigs, poultry | bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp |
Airports | 122 (2007) | 180 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 45
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 10 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 2 under 914 m: 18 (2007) |
total:
59 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 5 1,524 to 2,437 m: 18 914 to 1,523 m: 15 under 914 m: 19 (2000 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 77
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 26 under 914 m: 50 (2007) |
total:
121 914 to 1,523 m: 32 under 914 m: 89 (2000 est.) |
Area | total: 78,866 sq km
land: 77,276 sq km water: 1,590 sq km |
total:
283,560 sq km land: 276,840 sq km water: 6,720 sq km note: includes Galapagos Islands |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina | slightly smaller than Nevada |
Background | Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize Communist party rule and create "socialism with a human face." Anti-Soviet demonstrations the following year ushered in a period of harsh repression. With the collapse of Soviet authority in 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its freedom through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution." On 1 January 1993, the country underwent a "velvet divorce" into its two national components, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. | The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. |
Birth rate | 8.96 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 25.99 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $69.49 billion
expenditures: $75.8 billion (2007 est.) |
revenues:
planned $5.1 billion (not including revenue from potential privatizations) expenditures: $5.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999) |
Capital | name: Prague
geographic coordinates: 50 05 N, 14 28 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October |
Quito |
Climate | temperate; cool summers; cold, cloudy, humid winters | tropical along coast, becoming cooler inland at higher elevations; tropical in Amazonian jungle lowlands |
Coastline | 0 km (landlocked) | 2,237 km |
Constitution | ratified 16 December 1992, effective 1 January 1993 | 10 August 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form: Czech Republic
conventional short form: Czech Republic local long form: Ceska Republika local short form: Cesko |
conventional long form:
Republic of Ecuador conventional short form: Ecuador local long form: Republica del Ecuador local short form: Ecuador |
Currency | - | US dollar (USD) |
Death rate | 10.64 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 5.44 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | $61.74 billion (30 June 2007) | $15 billion (1999) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Richard W. GRABER
embassy: Trziste 15, 11801 Prague 1 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [420] 257 022 000 FAX: [420] 257 022 809 |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Gwen C. CLARE embassy: Avenida 12 de Octubre y Avenida Patria, Quito mailing address: APO AA 34039 telephone: [593] (2) 562-890 FAX: [593] (2) 502-052 consulate(s) general: Guayaquil |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Petr KOLAR
chancery: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 274-9100 FAX: [1] (202) 966-8540 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York |
chief of mission:
Ambassador Ivonne A-BAKI chancery: 2535 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 telephone: [1] (202) 234-7200 FAX: [1] (202) 667-3482 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and San Francisco |
Disputes - international | in 2006, Austrian public protests for the Czech Republic to close the Temelin nuclear power plant resulted in an Austrian parliamentary motion threatening international legal action | none |
Economic aid - recipient | $278.7 million in available EU structural adjustment and cohesion funds (2004) | $695.7 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe. Growth in 2000-07 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever more important role in underpinning growth as the availability of credit cards and mortgages increases. The current account deficit has declined to around 3.3% of GDP as demand for automotive and other products from the Czech Republic remains strong in the European Union. Rising inflation from higher food and energy prices are a risk to balanced economic growth. Significant increases in social spending in the run-up to June 2006 elections prevented, the government from meeting its goal of reducing its budget deficit to 3% of GDP in 2007. Negotiations on pension and additional healthcare reforms are continuing without clear prospects for agreement and implementation. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises, improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of available EU funds should strengthen output growth. The pro-business Civic Democratic Party-led government approved reforms in 2007 designed to cut spending on some social welfare benefits and reform the tax system with the aim of eventually reducing the budget deficit to 2.3% of GDP by 2010. Parliamentary approval for any additional reforms could prove difficult, however, because of the parliament's even split. The government withdrew a 2010 target date for euro adoption and instead aims to meet the eurozone criteria around 2012. | Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Because the country exports primary products such as oil, bananas, and shrimp, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. Ecuador joined the World Trade Organization in 1996, but has failed to comply with many of its accession commitments. In recent years, growth has been uneven due to ill-conceived fiscal stabilization measures. The aftermath of El Nino and depressed oil market of 1997-98 drove Ecuador's economy into a free-fall in 1999. The beginning of 1999 saw the banking sector collapse, which helped precipitate an unprecedented default on external loans later that year. Continued economic instability drove a 70% depreciation of the currency throughout 1999, which eventually forced a desperate government to "dollarize" the currency regime in 2000. The move stabilized the currency, but did not stave off the ouster of the government. The new president, Gustavo NOBOA has yet to complete negotiations for a long sought IMF accord. He will find it difficult to push through the reforms necessary to make "dollarization" work in the long run. |
Electricity - consumption | 59.72 billion kWh (2005) | 9.386 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | 24.99 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | 12.35 billion kWh (2005) | 25 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | 77.38 billion kWh (2005) | 10.065 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
29.51% hydro: 70.49% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Elbe River 115 m
highest point: Snezka 1,602 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Chimborazo 6,267 m |
Environment - current issues | air and water pollution in areas of northwest Bohemia and in northern Moravia around Ostrava present health risks; acid rain damaging forests; efforts to bring industry up to EU code should improve domestic pollution | deforestation; soil erosion; desertification; water pollution; pollution from oil production wastes |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Czech 90.4%, Moravian 3.7%, Slovak 1.9%, other 4% (2001 census) | mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 65%, Amerindian 25%, Spanish and others 7%, black 3% |
Exchange rates | koruny per US dollar - 20.53 (2007), 22.596 (2006), 23.957 (2005), 25.7 (2004), 28.209 (2003) | sucres per US dollar - 25,000 (January 2001), 24,988.4 (2000), 11,786.8 (1999), 5,446.6 (1998), 3,988.3 (1997), 3,189.5 (1996)
note: on 7 January 2000, the government passed a decree "dollarizing" the economy; on 13 March 2000, the National Congress approved a new exchange system whereby the US dollar is adopted as the main legal tender in Ecuador for all purposes; on 20 March 2000, the Central Bank of Ecuador started to exchange sucres for US dollars at a fixed rate of 25,000 sucres per US dollar; since 30 April 2000, all transactions are denominated in US dollars |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Vaclav KLAUS (since 7 March 2003)
head of government: Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK (since 9 January 2007); Deputy Prime Ministers Petr NECAS (since 9 January 2007), Martin BURSIK (since 9 January 2007), and Alexandr VONDRA (since 9 January 2007) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: president elected by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last successful election held 15 February 2008 (after earlier elections held 8 and 9 February 2008 were inconclusive; next election to be held in February 2013); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Vaclav KLAUS reelected president on 15 February 2008; Vaclav KLAUS 141 votes, Jan SVEJNAR 111 votes (third round; combined votes of both chambers of parliament) |
chief of state:
President Gustavo NOBOA Bejarano (since 22 January 2000) selected president following coup that deposed President MAHUAD; Vice President Pedro PINTO Rubianes (since 28 January 2000) elected by National Congress from a slate of candidates submitted by President NABOA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Gustavo NOBOA Bejarano (since 22 January 2000) selected president following coup that deposed President MAHUAD; Vice President Pedro PINTO Rubianes (since 28 January 2000) elected by National Congress from a slate of candidates submitted by President NABOA; note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket by popular vote for four-year term (no reelection); election last held 31 May 1998; runoff election held 12 July 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: results of the last election prior to the coup were: Jamil MAHUAD elected president; percent of vote - 51% note: a military-indigenous coup toppled democratically elected President Jamil MAHAUD on 21 January 2000; the military quickly handed power over to Vice President Gustavo NOBOA on 22 January; National Congress then elected a new vice president from a slate of candidates submitted by NOBOA; the new administration is scheduled to complete the remainder of MAHAUD's term, due to expire in January 2003 |
Exports | 20,930 bbl/day (2004) | $5.6 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 52%, chemicals 5%, raw materials and fuel 9% (2003) | petroleum, bananas, shrimp, coffee, cocoa, cut flowers, fish |
Exports - partners | Germany 32%, Slovakia 8.5%, Poland 5.7%, France 5.5%, Austria 5.1%, UK 4.8%, Italy 4.6% (2006) | US 37%, Colombia 5%, Italy 5%, Chile 5%, Peru 4% (1999) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side
note: identical to the flag of the former Czechoslovakia |
three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double width), blue, and red with the coat of arms superimposed at the center of the flag; similar to the flag of Colombia which is shorter and does not bear a coat of arms |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $37.2 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 2.4%
industry: 39.7% services: 57.9% (2007 est.) |
agriculture:
14% industry: 36% services: 50% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $2,900 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 5.7% (2007 est.) | 0.8% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 49 45 N, 15 30 E | 2 00 S, 77 30 W |
Geography - note | landlocked; strategically located astride some of oldest and most significant land routes in Europe; Moravian Gate is a traditional military corridor between the North European Plain and the Danube in central Europe | Cotopaxi in Andes is highest active volcano in world |
Heliports | 1 (2007) | 1 (2000 est.) |
Highways | - | total:
43,197 km paved: 8,165 km unpaved: 35,032 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 22.4% (1996) |
lowest 10%:
2.2% highest 10%: 33.8% (1995) |
Illicit drugs | transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and minor transit point for Latin American cocaine to Western Europe; producer of synthetic drugs for local and regional markets; susceptible to money laundering related to drug trafficking, organized crime; significant consumer of ecstasy | significant transit country for cocaine and derivatives of coca originating in Colombia and Peru; importer of precursor chemicals used in production of illicit narcotics; important money-laundering hub; increased activity on the northern frontier by trafficking groups and Colombian insurgents |
Imports | 203,700 bbl/day (2004) | $3.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and transport equipment 46%, raw materials and fuels 15%, chemicals 10% (2003) | machinery and equipment, raw materials, fuels; consumer goods |
Imports - partners | Germany 32.5%, Netherlands 6.8%, Slovakia 6.2%, Poland 6.1%, Russia 5.7%, Austria 5%, Italy 4.4%, France 4.3% (2006) | US 30%, Colombia 13%, Venezuela 6%, Japan 5%, Venezuela 6%, Mexico 3% (1998) |
Independence | 1 January 1993 (Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia) | 24 May 1822 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | 9% (2007 est.) | 2.4% (1997 est.) |
Industries | metallurgy, machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, glass, armaments | petroleum, food processing, textiles, metal work, paper products, wood products, chemicals, plastics, fishing, lumber |
Infant mortality rate | total: 3.86 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 4.21 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.49 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
34.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 2.6% (2007 est.) | 96% (2000 est.) |
International organization participation | ACCT (observer), Australia Group, BIS, BSEC (observer), CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC | CAN, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAES, LAIA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 13 (2000) |
Irrigated land | 240 sq km (2003) | 5,560 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term | Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (new justices are elected by the full Supreme Court) |
Labor force | 5.35 million (2007 est.) | 4.2 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 4.1%
industry: 37.6% services: 58.3% (2003) |
agriculture 30%, industry 25%, services 45% (1999 est.) |
Land boundaries | total: 2,290.2 km
border countries: Austria 466.3 km, Germany 810.3 km, Poland 761.8 km, Slovakia 251.8 km |
total:
2,010 km border countries: Colombia 590 km, Peru 1,420 km |
Land use | arable land: 38.82%
permanent crops: 3% other: 58.18% (2005) |
arable land:
6% permanent crops: 5% permanent pastures: 18% forests and woodland: 56% other: 15% (1993 est.) |
Languages | Czech 94.9%, Slovak 2%, other 2.3%, unidentified 0.8% (2001 census) | Spanish (official), Amerindian languages (especially Quechua) |
Legal system | civil law system based on Austro-Hungarian codes; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; legal code modified to bring it in line with Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) obligations and to expunge Marxist-Leninist legal theory | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (81 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the Chamber of Deputies or Poslanecka Snemovna (200 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held in two rounds 20-21 and 27-28 October 2006 (next to be held in October 2008); Chamber of Deputies - last held 2-3 June 2006 (next to be held by June 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - ODS 41, CSSD 12, KDU-CSL 11, others 15, independents 2; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - ODS 35.4%, CSSD 32.3%, KSCM 12.8%, KDU-CSL 7.2%, Greens 6.3%, other 6%; seats by party - ODS 81, CSSD 74, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6; note - seats by party as of December 2007 - ODS 81, CSSD 72, KSCM 26, KDU-CSL 13, Greens 6, unaffiliated 2 (former CSSD members) |
unicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional (121 seats; 79 members are popularly elected at-large nationally to serve four-year terms; 42 members are popularly elected by province - two per province - for four-year terms)
elections: last held 31 May 1998 (next to be held NA 2002) election results: percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - DP 32, PSC 27, PRE 24, ID 18, P-NP 9, FRA 5, PCE 3, MPD 2, CFP 1; note - defections by members of National Congress are commonplace, resulting in frequent changes in the numbers of seats held by the various parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 76.42 years
male: 73.14 years female: 79.88 years (2007 est.) |
total population:
71.33 years male: 68.52 years female: 74.28 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | definition: NA
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% (2003 est.) |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 90.1% male: 92% female: 88.2% (1995 est.) |
Location | Central Europe, southeast of Germany | Western South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean at the Equator, between Colombia and Peru |
Map references | Europe | South America |
Maritime claims | none (landlocked) | continental shelf:
claims continental shelf between mainland and Galapagos Islands territorial sea: 200 NM |
Merchant marine | registered in other countries: 1 (St Vincent and The Grenadines 1) (2007) | total:
30 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 233,312 GRT/385,784 DWT ships by type: cargo 2, chemical tanker 1, liquefied gas 1, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 22, specialized tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
Military branches | Army of the Czech Republic (ACR): Joint Forces Command (includes Army and Air Forces), Support and Training Forces Command (2007) | Army (Ejercito Ecuatoriano), Navy (Armada Ecuatoriana, includes Marines), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Ecuatoriana), National Police (Policia Nacional) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $720 million (FY98) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.46% (2007 est.) | 3.4% (FY98) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
3,382,567 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
2,280,899 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | - | 20 years of age |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | - | males:
132,978 (2001 est.) |
National holiday | Czech Founding Day, 28 October (1918) | Independence Day (independence of Quito), 10 August (1809) |
Nationality | noun: Czech(s)
adjective: Czech |
noun:
Ecuadorian(s) adjective: Ecuadorian |
Natural hazards | flooding | frequent earthquakes, landslides, volcanic activity; periodic droughts |
Natural resources | hard coal, soft coal, kaolin, clay, graphite, timber | petroleum, fish, timber, hydropower |
Net migration rate | 0.97 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | -0.55 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 7,010 km; oil 547 km; refined products 94 km (2007) | crude oil 800 km; petroleum products 1,358 km |
Political parties and leaders | Association of Independent Candidates-European Democrats or SNK-ED [Helmut DOHNALEK]; Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party or KDU-CSL [Jiri CUNEK]; Civic Democratic Party or ODS [Mirek TOPOLANEK]; Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia or KSCM [Vojtech FILIP]; Czech Social Democratic Party or CSSD [Jiri PAROUBEK]; Union of Freedom-Democratic Union or US-DEU [Jan CERNY]; Green Party [Martin BURSIK]; Independent Democrats (NEZDEM) [Vladimir ZELEZNY]; Party of Open Society (SOS) [Pavel NOVACEK]; Path of Change [Jiri LOBKOWITZ] | Concentration of Popular Forces or CFP [Averroes BUCARAM]; Democratic Left or ID [Rodrigo BORJA Cevallos]; Ecuadorian Conservative Party or PCE [Sixto DURAN Ballen]; Independent National Movement or MIN [leader NA]; Pachakutik-New Country or P-NP [Rafael PANDAM]; Popular Democracy or DP [Ramiro RIVERA]; Popular Democratic Movement or MPD [leader NA]; Radical Alfarista Front or FRA [Fabian ALARCON, director]; Roldosist Party or PRE [Abdala BUCARAM Ortiz, director]; Social Christian Party or PSC [Jaime NEBOT Saadi, president] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions or CMKOS [Milan STECH] | Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador or CONAIE [Antonio VARGAS]; Coordinator of Social Movements or CMS [F. Napoleon SANTOS]; Popular Front or FP [Luis VILLACIS] |
Population | 10,228,744 (July 2007 est.) | 13,183,978 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA% | 50% (1999 est.) |
Population growth rate | -0.071% (2007 est.) | 2% (2001 est.) |
Ports and harbors | - | Esmeraldas, Guayaquil, La Libertad, Manta, Puerto Bolivar, San Lorenzo |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 31, FM 304, shortwave 17 (2000) | AM 392, FM 27, shortwave 29 (1998) |
Radios | - | 4.15 million (1997) |
Railways | total: 9,597 km
standard gauge: 9,597 km 1.435-m gauge (3,041 km electrified) (2006) |
total:
965 km narrow gauge: 965 km 1.067-m gauge (2000) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 26.8%, Protestant 2.1%, other 3.3%, unspecified 8.8%, unaffiliated 59% (2001 census) | Roman Catholic 95% |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.056 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.008 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.641 male(s)/female total population: 0.951 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.87 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18-65, optional for other eligible voters |
Telephone system | general assessment: privatization and modernization of the Czech telecommunication system got a late start but is advancing steadily; access to the fixed-line telephone network expanded throughout the 1990s; mobile telephone usage increased sharply beginning in the mid-1990s and there are now about 120 mobile telephones per 100 persons
domestic: 93% of exchanges now digital; existing copper subscriber systems enhanced with Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) equipment to accommodate Internet and other digital signals; trunk systems include fiber-optic cable and microwave radio relay international: country code - 420; satellite earth stations - 2 Intersputnik (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions), 1 Intelsat, 1 Eutelsat, 1 Inmarsat, 1 Globalstar (2007) |
general assessment:
NA domestic: facilities generally inadequate and unreliable international: satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 3,217,300 (2005) | 899,000 (1997) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 12.15 million (2006) | 160,061 (1997) |
Television broadcast stations | 150 (plus 1,434 repeaters) (2000) | 15 (including one station on the Galapagos Islands) (1997) |
Terrain | Bohemia in the west consists of rolling plains, hills, and plateaus surrounded by low mountains; Moravia in the east consists of very hilly country | coastal plain (costa), inter-Andean central highlands (sierra), and flat to rolling eastern jungle (oriente) |
Total fertility rate | 1.22 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 3.12 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 6.6% (2007 est.) | 13%; note - widespread underemployment (2000 est.) |
Waterways | 664 km (principally on Elbe, Vltava, Oder, and other navigable rivers, lakes, and canals) (2006) | 1,500 km |